I don't have kids but I don't intend to tell the baby's name before birth if I have a baby. For two main reasons:

1. If people love the name and get attached to it, and then I see the baby and say, "Aw man, she doesn't look like a Matilda, she's totally an Alice," I don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of disappointed people bearing onesies and balloons and stuffed animals with the name MATILDA all over them, and saying, "But I LOVED Matilda!" for days and weeks on end. I've seen it happen. It can bum a new mom out.

2. People are mean, often without even realizing it. And no matter how much I like Matilda, seeing a bunch of people - most of whom, by the law of averages, are top 50-name types - make a face every time I say it could make me like it less over time. The first time I tell the name, I want them looking at an adorable baby. Instant positive association. And much harder to say something rude about a name when it's your kid's name, done deal, than when it's just an idea.

I'd never tell anyone what I was naming my baby before it's birth! Two of my friends have revealed their baby's names before they were born and I thought it was very unusual. I agree with MrsH's reasoning 100%. I'd like to have up until the birth and a bit beyond to change my mind if I want to. I think it's harder for people to say "that name sucks" when the baby is born, but before it's born, it's just an idea and not attached to an actual baby, so people feel like they can tell you how they really feel or suggest other names. One of my friends revealed her baby's name would be Jhai. I so badly wanted to say something, but didn't! I hope someone did. But his name is still Jhai, poor kid.

I don't tell anymore, but for a different reason. With our first child, we decided on the name Tyler almost as soon as we found out we were having a boy. We told everyone. But a few weeks before he was born, I was in a panic because I suddenly hated the name. I finally got up the nerve to say something to my hubby and it turns out he didn't like the name anymore either. So we were back to the drawing board. Our son, Alexander, wasn't named until he was three days old. It took my mother-in-law a good month before she stopped calling him Tyler!

We don't officially name until we meet the baby but we do mull over names with a couple of trusted loved ones to get some feedback. -a friend had a close call with nearly choosing a spelling for daughter's name that would surely have gotten her teased later but sharing the name/spelling with a friend made her and her husband aware and they changed the spelling.